Braylon Mullins already showed the ultimate flair for the dramatic last Sunday night in his legendary 3-pointer that sunk Duke and sent UConn to the Final Four.
The freshman who was born in Indiana did it again, this time in the state of Indiana. On Saturday night, with the Huskies’ once 14-point lead teetering and Illinois roaring back to do what UConn did to Duke, Mullins had the answer again, this time to stem the tide.
The Fighting Illini had cut UConn’s 57-43 lead to 63-59, with still a minute to go for Illinois to complete a monster comeback similar to what the Huskies did to those Blue Devils 6 days earlier in Washington. But Mullins would have none of it.
This time, it wasn’t a ridiculous shot from way beyond 3-point land, like against Duke. On Saturday night in Indianapolis, it was merely a regular old 3-point dagger from the left wing with 52.1 seconds left that gave UConn a 7-point cushion that it rode out in a 71-62 victory. With Mullins’ shooting touch rescuing the Huskies again, they were heading to Monday night’s national championship game.
Mullins finished with 15 points in 30 minutes, and he shot just 5 of 14 on the night. But forget about that. Mullins was 4 of 7 from 3-point range, which is also his comfort zone, and as far as UConn needing a big shot on Saturday night, Mullins was 1 of 1, nailing that late trifecta just when Illinois was ready to snatch the game away.
Here is just some of the social media reaction to Mullins’ latest heroics:
With UConn through to the national title game on Monday night, here is what the Kalshi market is currently saying on the odds regarding the 3 teams left standing that have a shot to win it all:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
